If you’re not prepared for it, homeownership can be a serious financial burden. When the burden becomes so overwhelming that consumers face foreclosure, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) aims to help with certain rules for mortgage servicers. Recently, they made some changes to those rules.

All it takes is one small mistake and your home improvement project can run way over budget. If you want to keep your remodel from eating up your savings, avoid these major missteps before construction even begins.

Mortgage approval rules have gotten stricter since the housing crisis. And Fannie Mae is rolling out a new set of guidelines that will consider how you pay your credit cards. If you carry a balance, it will affect your ability to get a loan.

Your credit score isn’t actually a single number. There are different agencies that use different factors for calculating different scores. Equifax is one of those agencies, and they’re adding a new factor to their metric: Homeowners’ Association (HOA) fees.

After saving up for a long time, I recently bought a home, which caught some of my friends off guard. “I thought you were anti-homeownership,” they said, because I think renting is underrated. Even as a homeowner, I still think renting is underrated. That doesn’t mean buying is a bad decision. The rent vs. buy debate…

Older homes have character, often boasting features like architectural windows and solid plaster walls that you don’t find in many newer buildings. When it’s time to renovate, though, older houses present costly challenges that aren’t so charming. Here are the biggest and most common renovation issues you should…

Buying your first home comes with quite a few surprises. While most buyers are prepared to sign up for homeowner’s insurance, they often overestimate their coverage. There are a number of unexpected things your homeowner’s insurance doesn’t cover, and in case of an emergency, you don’t want to be caught off guard.…

There are some spots in your home you should be familiar with for safety and maintenance reasons. If your plumbing goes awry, for example, you’ll want to know where the water shutoffs are located. The Art of Manliness details seven spots in your home you should know about.

Car insurance is typically cheaper if you’re married, and it looks like it’s also cheaper if you own your home. Data from the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) found that renters pay about 6% more per year for car insurance than homeowners do. They offer specific findings for ten different U.S. cities and seven…

Most houses don’t come cheap, so if you’re looking to buy, you want to be smart. And typically, the longer you plan on owning the home, the better. Personal finance blog MoneyNing explains why, suggesting the “five-year rule” in the process.

Your home is probably the most expensive thing you’ll ever own, and that expense goes beyond the closing price. There’s the cost of the house, but then there are other ongoing and upfront expenses that can catch you off guard. Especially if you’re a first time buyer, it helps to know what you’re getting into.

For the most part, people enjoy living where there are nearby amenities—we want our fancy groceries and coffee. And a recent report from Zillow reveals as much. According to the report, homes appreciate faster when there’s a Starbucks, Whole Foods, or Trader Joe’s nearby.